Mindanao hit by strong tremor anew

KIDAPAWAN CITY – A 6.1 magnitude earthquake registering at 5 on the intensity scale struck the southern Philippines on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to structures.

 

The tremor was traced in the town of Magsaysay in Davao del Sur in eastern Mindanao, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It said the earthquake was tectonic in nature and was felt in many areas as far as Cagayan de Oro City in northern Mindanao.

 

North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco said the tremor was felt in Kidapawan City, Koronadal City, the towns of Arakan, Carmen, Kabacan, Makilala, M'Lang and Matalam.

 

“Ginahangyo ang tanan sa pag-tan aw sa inyong palibot. Palihog ireport dayon sa mga Brgy. Opisyales kung aduna kamaoy naobserbahan nga pagkaguba gumikan sa pagtay-og. Ginahangyo ang mga namuyo sa mga high risk areas, mga pangpang ug sa tunga sa mga bukid nga magma-abtikon sa possible nga landslides,” she told residents.

 

(Everyone is asked to look around you. Please report immediately to barangay officials if there is any observed damage due to the quake. Residents of high risk areas, cliffs and in the middle of the mountains are urged to be vigilant in possible landslides.)

 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it expects damage to structures and aftershocks.

 

The German Research Centre for Geosciences was the first seismological agency to report the earthquake at 6.0 magnitude near Digos town in Davao del Sur at a shallow depth of 10 km below the surface, according to Volcano Discovery.

It said a second report was later issued by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, which listed it as a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 6.0.

Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been felt by everybody in the area of the epicenter. In those areas, dangerous ground shaking occurred with the potential to inflict moderate to heavy damage to buildings and other infrastructure.

Towns or cities where the quake likely caused strong ground shaking include
moderate shaking probably occurred in Digos located 14 km from the epicenter, and Kidapawan, 30 km away.

In Davao City located 53 km from the epicenter, Malita 59 km away, Samal 62 km away, Panabo 77 km away, and Budta 99 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.

 

Last month, another strong earthquake occurred off the coastal town of Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental. The tremor was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 116 kilometers. It was also felt in neighboring provinces and cities.

The tremor lasted nearly a minute. At least a dozen aftershocks had been recorded. 

The Philippines sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometer area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. It has more than 400 volcanoes and is sometimes called the circum-Pacific seismic belt. (Rhoderick Benez)

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